Closure-retaining device.



L. D. MALONE 81 H. E. HUBBS.

CLOSURE RETAINING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED .lUNEZI, 19m.

Patented J an. 9, 1917.

nivrTnn 8TATE8 raTnn'T orrron LEVI D. MALONE AND HENRY E. HUBBS, OF SHELBY, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE SHELBY SPRING HINGE COMPANY, OF SHELBY, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

CLOSURE-RETAINING DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, LEVI D. MALONE and HENRY E. Hoses, citizens of the United States, residing at Shelby, in the county of Richland and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Closure-Retaining Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates broadly to devices for retaining closuressuch as doors, casement windows, and the likein open position, and more particularly to devices of this kind which are adapted to operate antomatically to lock or retain the closure in open position when it shall have been opened. a predetermined distancesuflicient for the purpose desired.

It is the general object of this invention to improve and render more convenient the operation of devices of this type.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this kind which shall also operate automatically to lock the closure in its closed, as well as in-its open, position.

While not limited in its application to such use, our invention is particularly well adapted to be employed in connection with garage doors.

Further and more limited objects of the invention will appear hereinafter and will be set forth in the claims appended hereto and embodied in the drawings forming part hereof, wherein Figure 1 represents a perspective view showing a portion of a door and a cooperating portion of its frame, illustrating the manner of applying our invention thereto; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the supporting plate and latch which respectively support and cooperate with the outer portion of the locking arm; Fig. 3 is a detail, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing the positions of the parts when the door is locked in closed position; Fig. 4 is a detail in perspective of the supporting plate or bracket which is carried by the door; and Fig 5 is a detail in perspective of the latch.

In the drawings we have shown a door as the particular closure to which our invention is applied. Describing by reference characters the various parts illustrated, 1 represents the lintel of a door frame and 2 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

Serial No. 35,208.

the door, which is hinged at one side of the frame in the usual manner. Secured to the lintel at a suitable point within the jamb is a supporting bracket which is of general U- shape and comprises the bottom plate 3, side plates 4:, and horizontally extending ears 5 whereby the bracket may be secured to the lintel in any approved manner, as by means of screws 6.

At a suitable place on the upper portion of the inner surface of the door there is secured a bracket comprising a base plate 7 and a plate 8 rojecting angularly there from. The base plate 7 is provided with a suitable number of perforations 7 for the reception of fastening devices, as screws. The angularly projecting plate 8 is shown as provided with three holes 9, 10 and 11. The hole 9 affords means whereby the latch (to be described hereinafter) may be pivotally connected to the plate 8; the hole 10 serves as a guide for the locking arm, while the slot 11 serves as a guide for the outer or swinging end of the latch and has a retaining means whereby to prevent the latch from becoming disconnected from its supporting plate 8 as well as to limit the pivotal move ment of the latch.

The latch which cooperates with the door bracket comprises a plate 12, preferably of metal, having at one end an angular arm 13 provided with an aperture 14% and having in its body three openings, 15, 16 and 17. The opening 15 corresponds to the opening 9 in the bracket plate 8, and the latch plate is pivotally connected to such bracket plate, as by means of a rivet 18 which extends through the holes 9 and 15. The opening 16 is preferably larger than the opening 10 and is adapted to register therewith, to permit the locking arm to pass through said openings. The opening 17 is adapted to register with the elongated or slotted opening 11, and the outer end of the latch plate is movably connected and secured to the plate 8 as by means of a rivet or stud 18 which is secured at one end to the latch plate'12 by means of the aperture 17 and which has at its other end a head 19 which extends across the slot 11. At its outer or free end, the latch plate 12 is provided with an arrow shaped head 20 said head being provided with a pair of shoulders 21 and being connected to the plate 12 by means of a neck 22, from which said shoulders project at substantially right angles. The angular'arm 13 afiords means for securing an operating chain 23 to the latch, said chain being connected to said arm by means of the aperture 1 1 having at its lower end a ring 2 1.

Reference has been made to the locking arm. This arm is indicated at 25 and is shown as consisting of a rod having one end bent upwardly, as shown at 26, and extending through the bottom plate 3 and provided with a suitable projection to prevent it from dropping through said plate as, for instance, a cotter pin 27. The horizontally extending body of the rod projects through the hole 10 in the plate 8 and is slidably supported and guided thereby. This rod is pro-vided, at a suitable point, with a notch 28 in its upper surface, said notch being provided with vertical shoulders 29 and being located near the outer or swinging end of the rod. Beyond this notch, the rod is provided with a suitable projection thereby to prevent it from being accidentally pulled through the plates Sand 12, such projection being shown in this case as a cotter pin 30.

The parts thus far described, with the eX- ception of the parts 18-22 inclusive, constitute means whereby the door may be automatically locked in its desired open position and whereby it may be conveniently unlocked when it is desired to close the door. The operation will be more or less apparent. When the door is swung outwardly on its hinges, the rod 25 slides through the openings 10 and 16 until the notch 28 comes beneath the wall bounding the upper edge of the opening 16. Thereupon, the latch being pivoted in such manner that its outer or swinging end tends to drop by gravity, the latch will automatically drop into the notch 28 by gravity and thus automatically lock T o insure this the door in open position. locking action, the notch 28 will be made of considerably greater length than the thickness of the latch plate 12. Should the latch for any reason fail to operate, the door cannot be swung further than the cotter pin 30, and a slight closing movement will insure the engagement of the latch with the notch 28. WVhen it is desired to close the door, the operator merely pulls down upon the chain 23, which lifts the latch out of engagement with the rod, and the door can then be closed in the usual manner.

Where an additional entrance door is provided for the garageor in any other installation where the lock will be easily accessible from the inside of the building we provide means for automatically locking the door closed, as well as open. This means comprises the parts 2O 22 inclusive and a locking plate or member which is shown as secured to the lintel of the door. The locking member in this case may consist of a bracket comprising a base plate 31 which may be fastened to the upper j amb (or other suitable portion of the lintel) having projecting downwardly therefrom a locking plate proper 32 having an opening 33 therein which is of suflicient size to enable the head 20 to pass therethrough, the parts being so proportioned. that, as the door is closed, the lower inclined surface of the head 21 will strike the bottom edge of the opening 33, causing the head to ride upwardly on such edge until the lower shoulder 21 passes the bottom wall of the opening, whereupon the latch drops by gravity with the head 21 engaging the locking platesee Fig. 3. hen it is desired to open the door, the operator merely pulls downwardly upon the chain 23', lifting the locking end of the latch above the locking plate, whereupon the door can be opened. The length of the slot 11 will preferably be such and the aperture 33 will be so located and so proportioned that it will be impossible to lift the head 20 a sutiicient distance to: cause the upper shoulder 21 to engage the upper wall of the opening 33. The lower wall of the slot also retains the head 20 in operative relation to the lower wall of the opening 33 so that the head may ride up such wall as the door is closed.

It will be observed that the upper and lower halves of the gravity latch are symmetrical. This enables the device to be reversed and to be placed on either side of a plate such as 8 as well as to permit the bracket to be applied to a door opening in the opposite direction from that shown in Fig. 1. a

For convenience of description, the locking member 25 will be referred to as an arm;. but we do not propose thereby to limit ourselves to any particular construction of locking member or to any particular construction of cooperating parts, except as such particularity may be set forth specificall y in the claims hereto annexed or may be rendered necessary by the state of the prior art.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. The combination with relatively fixed and movable members, of an arm pivotally connected to one of said members, a supporting guide carried by the other member, and with which the arm cooperates, anda pivoted gravity latch carried by said guideaud adapted to engage said arm, said movable member and arm being in substantially parallel planes.

2. The combination with relatively fixed and movable members, of an arm pivotally connected to one of said members, said arm having an abutment, a supporting guide carried by the other member and in which the arm slides, and a pivoted gravity latch carried by said guide and adapted to engage said arm, and means for disengaging said latch from said arm, said movable memher and arm being in substantially parallel planes.

3. The combination with relatively fixed and movable members, of an arm pivotally connected to one of said members, a. supporting guide carried by the other. member and in which the arm'slides, said arm having an abutment, a pivoted gravity latch arranged in cooperative relation with said guide and adapted to engage said arm, means for disengaging said latch from said arm, and a keeper, arranged upon the member to which the arm is pivoted, said latch having a portion adapted to engage said keeper, when said members are brought together, said movable member and arm being in substantially parallel planes.

4. The combination, with a pair of relatively movable members, of an arm pivotally connected to one of said members, a support carried by and projecting from the other member, said support having an opening through which said arm may slide, a gravity latch pivotally connected to said support and having an opening therein adapted to register with the opening in the support and through which said arm may also slide, the arm having an abutment arranged and adapted to be engaged by said latch, and operating means connected with said latch for lifting said latch away from said arm.

5. The combination, with a pair of relatively movable members, of an arm pivotally connected to one of said members, a support projecting from the other member and having a guide opening therethrough for said arm, a gravity latch pivoted to said support and having an opening registering with the opening in the support and adapted to receive the arm, said arm being provided with an abutment which is adapted to be engaged by said latch, and said support having an elongated opening, a pin or stud connected to the latch and extending through said opening and having an enlargement or head thereon, and means connected with the latch for operating the same.

6. The combination, with fixed and rela- 7 The combination, with fixed and relatively movable members, of an arm pivotally connected to one of said members, a supporting device for said arm carried by the other member, a latch plate carried by the last mentioned member and adapted to engage said arm thereby to lock said members in open position, and a cooperating locking device carried by the member to which the arm is pivoted and arranged to engage said latch thereby to lock said members in closed position.

8.. The combination, with relatively fixed and movable members, of an arm pivotally connected to the fixed member, a guide for said arm connected to the movable member, a latch pivotally connected to said guide and adapted to engage the arm by gravity thereby to lock the members in open position, said latch having at its outer end a head, and a locking device carried by the fixed member and having a projection which said head is adapted to engage when the members are in closed position thereby to locksaid members in such position.

9. The combination, with relatively fixed and movable members, of an arm pivotally connected to the fixed member, a guide for said arm connected to the movablemember, a latch pivotally connected to said movable member and adapted to engage the arm by gravity thereby to lock the members in open position, said latch having an additional locking portion, and a locking device carried by the fixed member and having a looking portion adapted to engage the locking portion of the latch when the members are in closed position, thereby to lock said members in such position. I

V 10. A device of the character specified comprising a supporting member to which one end of an arm may be pivoted, an arm pivoted thereto, a plate having an opening through which said arm may extend, a latch plate pivoted to the first mentioned plate and having an opening adapted to register with the opening in the first mentioned plate and having toward its free or swinging end a head provided with an abutment or shoulder, and a member having an abutment arranged to engage the first mentioned abutment or shoulder.

11. A device of the character specified comprising a supporting member to which one end of an arm may be pivoted, an arm pivoted thereto, a plate having an opening through which said arm may extend, a latch plate pivoted .to the first mentioned plate and having an opening adapted to register with the opening in the first mentioned plate and having toward its free or swinging end a tapered head provided with oppositely extending abutments or shoulders, a member having an opening therethrough adapted to receive said head and to engage supporting device for the other member, means. carried by said one of said abutments, and connections for limiting the extent oi the pivotal movement of said'latch. V

12. The'combination, with a pair of relatively movable members, of a locking arm pivotally connected to one of said members, a supporting device carried by the other member and slidably supporting said arm, means carried by the last mentioned member for automatically engaging the said arm 7 when the members shall have been separated a predetermined distance, and a device carried by the member to which the arm is pivotally connected and adapted to engage the last mentioned means thereby toilock the memhere together said arm and movable member being in substantiallyparallel planes.

13. The combination with'a pair of relatively movable members, otan arm pivotally connected to one of said members, 'a said arm, carried by support for engaging said arm, and holding the member open, said member for holding said members closed said arm and movable member being in substantially parallel planes.

14c. The combination, with relatively fixed and movable members, of a rod pivotally connected to one of said members, a supporting port for said arm carried by the movable member, a gravity latch pivoted to said support and through which said arm extends and adapted to engage an abutment 7 means being adapted to engage a catch upon the other device for said rod carried by the other member, a lockmg device carried.

on said arm by gravity thereby to lock said members in open position, said latch havinga locking projection, and a cooperating locking device carried by the fixed member and arranged to be engaged by said projection when the said members are in closed position.

16. The combination, withfixed and relatively movable members, of an arm pivotally connected to the'fixed'member, a guide for said arm carried by the movable member, a locking device carried'bythe movable member and arranged to engage the arm to retain the members in open position, and a cooperating locking device carried by the fixed member and arranged to be engaged by the first mentioned locking device thereby to retain the members in closed position.

17. A device for the purpose specified comprising a supporting member, an arm pivoted thereto, a plate having an opening through which said arm may slidably extend, a gravity latch pivoted to said plate and adapted to engage said arm, said latch having a lockmg pro]ect1on toward the free or swinging end thereof, and a member with which said projection is adapted to cooperate. V 18. A device for the purpose specified comprising a supporting member, an arm pivoted thereto, a second support slidably engaging said arm, a gravity latch pivoted to the second support and adapted to engage said arm, said latch having a locking portion toward the free or swinging end thereof, and a member with which the last mentioned locking portion is adapted to cooperate.

In testimony whereof, We hereunto ailix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

LEVI D. MALONE. HENRY E. HUBBS.

Witnesses: G. M. CARPENTER,

W. J. Braces.

Copies of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

7 Washington, D. C. 

